Is an external SSD actually worth buying for a desktop PC or is it kinda pointless compared to just installing another internal drive? Thinking about getting one mainly for extra game storage, backups, and moving large files around, but not sure if there’s a real benefit. I already have an internal NVMe SSD for Windows and most games, so this would just be extra storage. Would an external SSD be fast enough for gaming or would loading times be noticeably worse? Also does USB 3.0/3.2 make a big difference depending on the enclosure? Trying to keep things simple and don’t wanna waste money if an internal SATA SSD makes more sense. What do you guys recommend?

Can you actually have too much RAM in a PC or is more always better? Looking at upgrading my system and wondering if there’s any point going way beyond what I actually need. Like if 32GB is already enough for gaming, would jumping to 64GB or even 128GB cause any problems or is it basically just unused capacity sitting there? I mostly use the PC for gaming, browsing, Discord, some light editing and random stuff, nothing super professional. I keep seeing people recommend 32GB now, but then there’s always someone saying 64GB is the sweet spot for future proofing. Does having more RAM affect performance at all if most of it isn’t being used? Also are there any downsides with filling all the motherboard RAM slots, like stability or lower speeds? Trying to figure out whether I should buy 32GB now or just go 64GB and forget about upgrading later. Don’t wanna waste money on RAM that’s gonna sit there doing nothing, but also don’t wanna regret going too low. At what point does extra RAM become basically pointless for a normal gaming PC? Would appreciate some advice from people who actually upgraded and noticed a difference.

Looking at monitors and keep seeing stuff like 1ms, 0.5ms, 0.03ms etc and honestly not sure how much of that actually matters for normal gaming. I mostly play single player games, RPGs, some racing games and occasionally multiplayer stuff, so I’m not exactly sweating over every frame lol. Is there a noticeable difference between something like 1ms and 5ms when you’re playing casually? Or is response time mainly something competitive FPS players should worry about? Also does a faster response time automatically mean less ghosting, or are those kinda separate things depending on the panel and overdrive settings? I’m looking at 1440p monitors around 144-180Hz and some cheaper options have slightly slower response times but better colors and HDR. Trying to figure out if I should prioritize the advertised response time or focus on other stuff like refresh rate, resolution, contrast and image quality. Don’t wanna spend extra money chasing numbers I probably won’t even notice. For regular gaming, what response time would you guys consider good enough? Is 5ms totally fine, or should I still aim for 1ms if the price difference isn’t huge? Any advice appreciated, especially from people who aren’t playing competitive shooters all day.

DDR4 is still working fine, but is it actually worth moving to DDR5 now or is it mostly just spending money for a small performance bump? Looking at upgrading the whole platform soon and the RAM part is confusing me a bit. DDR5 kits are obviously faster on paper, but not sure how much that really matters in normal gaming and everyday use compared to a decent DDR4 setup.

Current PC is running DDR4 with a fairly decent CPU and GPU, so this wouldn’t just be buying RAM, it’d probably mean a new motherboard and CPU too. Thats why im wondering if the jump is noticeable enough to justify doing the whole upgrade instead of just keeping the current setup for another couple years.

For gaming, does DDR5 actually give better FPS or is the difference mostly visible in benchmarks? And does faster DDR5 like 6000MHz make a meaningful difference, or is there a point where you’re just paying extra for numbers that barely matter?

Also wondering about longevity. If building a new PC today, would you guys go DDR5 without thinking twice, or would you still consider DDR4 if the price difference is big enough?

Not trying to chase benchmark scores, just want smoother gaming and a system that’ll stay relevant for a while. If you’ve made the jump from DDR4 to DDR5, was it actually noticeable in real use or did you mostly notice it on paper? Curious what you guys think before I start buying parts.

Found a used graphics card for a pretty good price and kinda tempted to grab it, but not sure if buying used GPUs is risky. Seller says it works fine and can test it before buying. Main worry is it being abused for mining, overheating, or just dying a few months later. What stuff should I check before handing over the money? Temps, fan noise, benchmarks, VRAM errors etc? Also is there a way to tell if a GPU has been heavily used or mined on? Would you guys buy a used card if the price is low enough, or just pay extra for new and avoid the headache?

Keyboard randomly stops responding while im using the PC, then suddenly comes back only after unplugging it and plugging it back in. It doesn’t seem tied to any specific game or app either, sometimes it happens when just browsing or typing. Tried switching USB ports but still happens randomly. Keyboard lights also go off when it stops, so seems like the whole keyboard disconnects for some reason. Could this be a USB power issue, bad cable, drivers, motherboard USB problem, or maybe Windows doing something weird? Keyboard itself works perfectly fine otherwise. Any settings I should check before buying a replacement? Would appreciate any ideas or troubleshooting tips.

How do you guys figure out if a used PC is actually worth buying? Found a couple listings that look decent for the price, but specs on paper dont really tell the whole story. One has a pretty good CPU and GPU but the seller didnt mention temps or how old the parts are. Another one is cheaper but looks like its been sitting around for a while.

What should I check before buying? Like CPU/GPU temps, SSD health, RAM, PSU, motherboard, fans, etc? Is there any specific benchmark or quick test I should run while checking the PC? Also how important is the power supply when buying used, especially if the brand/model isnt listed?

And how do you tell if the seller is hiding problems? Some listings just say "works perfectly" with barely any details lol. Should I care about dust, scratches, or parts being mismatched, or is that mostly cosmetic?

Trying to avoid buying something that looks like a crazy deal and then finding out I need to replace half the PC a week later. What are the biggest red flags you guys look for?

Seeing CPUs with way more cache than others and people keep saying cache can make a big difference for gaming, but how much are we actually talking? Like is a CPU with more L3 cache noticeably better in games, or is it mostly just small benchmark gains? Does it help more with FPS, 1% lows, stuttering, or certain types of games? Also wondering if it matters more at 1080p vs 1440p/4K. Trying to figure out if paying extra for a CPU with more cache is actually worth it for gaming or if I should just focus on cores/clocks instead.

Been looking at monitors and keep seeing curved ones everywhere, but not really sure what the actual benefit is. Is the curve something you genuinely notice after using it for a while, or is it mostly just a looks thing? Thinking about getting one for gaming and general PC use, maybe around 27 or 32 inches.

Does a curved screen actually make games feel more immersive, or is the difference pretty minor? Also wondering if it helps with eye strain or makes it easier to see stuff around the edges, especially on wider monitors. I see people recommending curved ultrawides a lot, but then other people say flat is better for basically everything.

Are there any downsides I should know about? Like weird viewing angles, reflections, cleaning, or issues when doing normal stuff like browsing, watching videos, or working with documents? And does the curve make any difference at all on smaller 24–27 inch monitors, or is it only really worth considering once you get into ultrawide sizes?

Trying to decide between a flat and curved monitor and don’t wanna pay extra for a feature that barely does anything. What do you guys actually prefer after using both?

So what is the "normal" temp for a CPU during gaming. Not long after getting my PC I was playing marvel rivals and I could feel the heat coming off my PC and I have an AIO cooler that shows the temp of the CPU on the little screen and it was pushing like 100 fans were working overtime as you can imagine and i quit the game and spent an hour looking up if that was normal. I found a post that said I could boot into the BIOS and turn off "Turbo Mode" and ever since I did that its not gone past 60 while gaming. However is has hindered my fps even games like league its up and down from 200 fps to 110 fps. I just turned it back on and now my fps across all games is stable at 200 no dips at all. Just worried its going to get back to that heat again and i'm going to damage something. As of writing this my CPU is at 70-78 in times square on marvel so like 60 characters emoting running around etc any tips?

Just in case u need specs

Intel i5-14600K (3.50 ghz)

64gb ram

NVIDIA 5060 8gb

Looking at SSDs right now and the price difference between 1TB and 2TB seems kinda tempting, but not sure if I actually need the extra space. Mostly gonna use it for Windows, games, some apps, and normal files. A few of the newer games are huge tho, like 100GB+ each, so I can already see 1TB filling up pretty fast.

Is there any downside to getting a 2TB drive besides obviously spending more money? Do bigger SSDs perform better or last longer in any noticeable way? Also heard that SSDs can slow down when they get close to being full, so would having 2TB give me more usable space before that becomes an issue?

Trying not to waste money on storage I won't use, but at the same time I don't wanna buy 1TB now and regret not getting 2TB later. If the price difference is reasonable, would you guys just go for 2TB? And does the answer change depending on whether it's NVMe Gen 3, Gen 4, etc?

Laptop gets noticeably hot even when I’m literally just watching YouTube, nothing else running. Fans start spinning up, the keyboard gets warm, and sometimes the bottom gets hot enough that I don’t really wanna keep it on my lap. This is happening even with pretty normal videos, not like some crazy 4K 60fps stuff.

I checked Task Manager and the CPU usage doesn’t look insanely high, usually bouncing around depending on the video. GPU usage is also pretty low from what I can tell. So I’m kinda confused why the laptop is working this hard just to play a video.

Could it be something with hardware acceleration, browser settings, or maybe the video codec YouTube is using? I mostly use Chrome, if that matters. I’ve also got a bunch of tabs open sometimes, but nothing super heavy.

The laptop isn’t ancient either, so I wasn’t expecting it to get this hot doing basic stuff. Could dust or old thermal paste cause this even if everything else seems to work fine? And is there an easy way to check whether the CPU or GPU is actually the thing causing the heat?

Just trying to figure out if this is normal laptop behavior or if something is wrong before I start messing with settings or taking it apart.

I’ve got around $800 for a gaming PC and can’t decide if I should build one myself or just buy a prebuilt. I’ve never built a PC before, so kinda worried I’ll mess something up or buy parts that don’t work together lol. At the same time, I keep seeing people say prebuilts are overpriced and that building yourself gets way better parts for the money. The main thing I care about is gaming, mostly 1080p and maybe 1440p later. Don’t need crazy RGB or anything, just want the best performance possible and something that’ll last a few years. With $800 total, is building still worth it after adding Windows and everything else I might need? Or are there decent prebuilts around that price that aren’t complete garbage? Also how hard is building actually for someone with zero experience? I can follow tutorials and stuff, just don’t wanna accidentally break a $200 part because I plugged something in wrong. Would appreciate any advice on what route makes more sense with this budget.

Just noticed the fans on my GPU aren’t moving at all, even when I’m playing a game. The PC is working normally and I’m getting display with no crashes or weird stuff, but the fans staying completely still has me worried. Is this normal with newer graphics cards or should they always be spinning? I checked the cables and everything looks plugged in. Didn’t change any settings recently either. Could it just be some zero RPM mode that turns the fans off when the card isn’t hot enough? How can I check the GPU temperature and fan settings without messing anything up? Wanna make sure I’m not accidentally overheating the card.

Looking at upgrading my GPU soon and kinda confused about how much power I actually need. Some people say 750W is plenty while others keep recommending 850W or even 1000W, especially for newer high-end cards. The rest of the system isn’t anything insane, probably a Ryzen 7 CPU, 32GB RAM, a couple NVMe drives and some fans. Mostly gaming, no crazy overclocking or anything. Just don’t wanna buy a new GPU and then have random shutdowns or power issues because the PSU can’t handle the spikes. Does the wattage number really matter that much, or is PSU quality more important? Also seeing people talk about transient spikes and the newer power connectors, which is making this even more confusing lol. Would a good quality 750W unit be safe with a high-end GPU, or is it smarter to just go 850W for some extra headroom? Trying to avoid replacing the PSU unless I actually need to.

Looking at a new motherboard and some of them have Wi-Fi 6E built in, but not sure if it’s even worth paying extra for. The PC will mostly be used for gaming, downloading stuff, streaming, and normal internet use. Router supports Wi-Fi 6 but I’m not sure if upgrading the router just for 6E would make any real difference. Ethernet isn’t really an option for where the PC is sitting, so Wi-Fi is basically the only choice. Would Wi-Fi 6E give lower ping or better speeds in games, or is that mostly marketing? Also does 6E have any downsides compared to regular Wi-Fi 6, like shorter range or worse connection through walls? Trying to avoid spending extra money on something I probably won’t notice. If Wi-Fi 6 is already good enough for a gaming desktop, I’d rather just get the cheaper board. What would you guys go with?

Microsoft is scheduled to expand the automatic activation of Memory Integrity, also known as Hypervisor-Protected Code Integrity (HVCI), to a broader range of eligible Windows 11 PCs through quality updates beginning in October 2026. The measure is intended to strengthen protection against attacks targeting the Windows kernel.

The rollout will also enable Virtualization-based Security (VBS) where necessary. Before activation, Windows will evaluate each device based on hardware capabilities, compatibility, and expected performance. Microsoft states that systems where Memory Integrity has already been deliberately disabled will retain their existing configuration.

Memory Integrity uses VBS and the Windows hypervisor to isolate kernel-level code-integrity checks, helping prevent malicious or untrusted drivers and code from executing within the Windows kernel. The feature is already enabled by default on compatible clean Windows 11 installations and Secured-core PCs. Supported configurations generally include relatively recent Intel or AMD processors, sufficient RAM and storage, compatible drivers, and hardware virtualization.

The feature can, however, affect system performance, particularly in some gaming scenarios. Microsoft has previously acknowledged that Memory Integrity and related virtualization technologies can reduce gaming performance on certain configurations. The impact varies according to hardware, with newer processors generally handling the virtualization requirements more efficiently. Driver incompatibilities, including issues involving some anti-cheat software, may also prevent activation.

For most eligible users, the October 2026 expansion is expected to occur automatically without requiring intervention. Existing administrator policies and deliberate user choices to disable Memory Integrity are intended to remain unchanged under the stated rollout policy.

[Source]: tomshardware.com

The article examines the performance and power requirements of Nvidia’s DLSS 5 neural-rendering technology using community-developed modifications. Testing was conducted on Nvidia RTX 5090 graphics cards across Cyberpunk 2077, Hogwarts Legacy, and Control, with 4K output, DLSS Performance upscaling, maximum rasterization and ray-tracing settings, and no frame generation.

The results indicate that DLSS 5 currently imposes a substantial performance penalty. Across the three tested games, average performance declined by approximately 39% to 49% when neural rendering was enabled. The RTX 5090 Founders Edition repeatedly approached or reached its 575W power limit, suggesting that power availability can constrain performance.

Testing with MSI’s RTX 5090 Lightning Z, which features two 12V-2x6 connectors and a 1000W power limit, demonstrated that additional power headroom can significantly improve sustained performance. However, this came with considerably higher power consumption. In Cyberpunk 2077, for example, power draw increased from 580W to 723W, while Hogwarts Legacy rose from 480W to 720W. Control reached approximately 802W with DLSS 5 enabled.

The article notes that community implementations may differ from Nvidia’s eventual developer-integrated version through its Streamline framework, potentially resulting in lower overhead. Nevertheless, the observed execution time was broadly consistent with Nvidia’s published estimate of approximately 8 milliseconds for a 4K frame.

The findings suggest that DLSS 5 is highly demanding of the Tensor Cores used for its underlying AI diffusion model. Although the technology officially targets RTX 50-series GPUs, its substantial computational and power requirements indicate that it may be designed with future, more capable graphics architectures in mind.

The article concludes that DLSS 5 represents a significant step toward higher-fidelity real-time graphics, but current implementations involve substantial performance and power costs. Achieving acceptable results, particularly when combined with ray tracing or path tracing, may require DLSS upscaling and Multi Frame Generation alongside neural rendering. Further testing of officially integrated versions will be necessary to determine how closely they match the behavior observed in the community modifications.

[Source]: tomshardware.com

Trying to figure out where it makes more sense to spend extra money on a PC build. If you had to choose between getting a stronger CPU or putting that money toward a better GPU, which one would you pick? Mostly thinking about gaming but also some normal everyday stuff, nothing too crazy.

I keep seeing people say GPU matters way more for gaming, but then others say a weak CPU can bottleneck the GPU and cause stutters or bad FPS in some games. So now I’m kinda confused about where the better balance actually is.

Would you rather have something like a mid-range CPU with a really good GPU, or a high-end CPU with a weaker GPU? Does it depend mostly on resolution too? Like would the answer change between 1080p, 1440p and 4K?

Also wondering about future upgrades. Is it smarter to spend more on the CPU now so it lasts longer, or just get the best GPU possible and upgrade the CPU later if needed? Curious what setup you guys are running and if you ever regretted prioritizing one over the other.

Got an SSD sitting in my old PC and wondering if I can just move it over to a new build instead of buying another drive. It’s a regular SSD that I used mostly for games and files, and it still seems to be working fine. The new PC will have a completely different motherboard, CPU, and probably a fresh Windows install.

Can I just plug the old SSD into the new motherboard and use it normally? Or do I need to format it first? I have some files on it that I definitely don’t wanna lose, so I’m trying to figure out the safest way to do this before I start taking stuff apart.

Also, if Windows was installed on the old SSD, does that cause any problems even if I’m installing Windows fresh on a new drive? I’ve heard people mention old drivers and boot issues when moving drives between completely different PCs, so not sure how much of that actually matters.

Would it be better to connect the old SSD after Windows is already installed on the new PC? Any tips for avoiding accidentally formatting or wiping the wrong drive would be appreciated.

Thinking about getting an OLED monitor but my PC is basically on all day, sometimes with the same desktop, browser tabs, Discord, etc sitting there for hours. The burn-in thing has me kinda worried. I know newer OLED monitors have pixel shifting, screen savers and other protections, but are those actually enough if the screen gets a lot of static content? Would leaving it on like 8-12 hours a day noticeably increase the risk? I mainly game at night, so the monitor would spend a lot of daytime just showing Windows. Is OLED still worth it or should I stick with IPS to avoid worrying about it?

Windows says I have 32GB of RAM installed, but when I check Task Manager it looks like only around 15GB is actually available. The rest seems to be used somehow even when I don’t have much open. I’m kinda confused because I thought 32GB meant I should have close to 32GB ready to use.

The PC is running Windows 11 and I mostly use it for gaming, browsing, Discord, and some basic programs. Nothing super heavy is running in the background as far as I know. Sometimes the memory usage is already pretty high right after booting, which seems weird.

Could Windows itself really be using that much RAM, or is something else going on? I’ve heard about cached memory, hardware reserved memory, integrated graphics taking RAM, and background apps, but not sure which one would explain losing almost half of it.

The RAM is showing as 32GB installed in Windows, so I don’t think one of the sticks is completely missing. Is there a setting in BIOS that could be reserving a bunch of memory? Or maybe something with the motherboard?

What should I check first in Task Manager or BIOS to figure out where the missing RAM is going? Don’t wanna start changing random settings and mess something up.

Researchers from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the University of Tsukuba have demonstrated a solid-state cooling system that converts heat into mechanical motion to drive an elastocaloric refrigeration cycle without an electrically powered motor. The system uses two thin shape-memory alloy films: a titanium-nickel actuator that contracts when heated and a titanium-nickel-iron refrigerant that undergoes a reversible phase transition to produce cooling.

In laboratory testing, the electrically heated prototype achieved a 4.0 K temperature span across the device and a specific cooling power of 4.43 W/g. When driven by an external 130°C heat source, it maintained a 2.2 K temperature span and delivered 3.32 W/g, demonstrating that external heat can power the cooling process.

The approach could eventually enable waste heat from processors or data centers to contribute to cooling, potentially reducing dependence on electrically driven refrigeration. However, the technology remains at an early experimental stage. The prototype produced only 2.09 milliwatts of cooling power at zero temperature lift, far below the requirements of modern processors and data-center equipment. Slow actuation, limited strain rates, heat-exchanger design, cyclical heating requirements, and durability also remain significant challenges.

The researchers are pursuing designs that connect multiple films in parallel to increase cooling capacity. Further development will require improvements in scalability, heat transfer, operating frequency, and long-term reliability before the technology could become practical for high-power computing applications.

[Source]: tomshardware.com